House of Chimney Cakes

With five locations in seemingly random U.S. cities, House of Chimney Cakes specializes in Hungarian kürtöskalács (chimney cakes) – basically soft serve ice cream loaded into a custom ice cream cone, then topped with chocolate, cookies, sprinkles, and/or other decorations.

If the concept sounds somewhat familiar, that’s because it’s essentially a European version of SomiSomi, which makes the same basic dessert with a few distinctions. Where SomiSomi’s version uses a Japanese/Korean soft waffle cone shaped like a fish, the Hungarian cake cone looks like a Kong chew toy for dogs, flaky on the outside with soft pastry dough on the inside. SomiSomi typically offers six soft serve flavors to choose from; House of Chimney Cakes has four (chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry or pineapple Dole Whip).

And while SomiSomi fills its cone with sweet pastes such as Nutella, House of Chimney Cakes more aggressively covers the ice cream with decorations. On the Tiramisu, Nutella has a surprising cameo on an attached ladyfinger, while the cake cone is coated with mocha powder. The Fashionista has a cone covered in cocoa pebbles, while the ice cream sports a chocolate Louis Vuitton logo, Pocky sticks, sprinkles and sauce. You can also create your own combination using these ingredients, fruit and tea powders, and various sauces, nuts, and candies, which is advisable given that the plain vanilla and chocolate ice creams aren’t especially compelling.